A genetically modified purple tomato helped to prevent cancer in mice. The purple tomato is engineered to create nutrients which are found in dark berries. Scientists at the John Innes Center in Britain fed the modified tomato to cancer-prone mice and the tested mice lived longer than those fed a regular diet, with and without standard red tomatoes.

The clinical study was looking for the effects of anthocyanins, which are an antioxidant found in blackberries and black currants and have been shown to reduce cancer risk, some neurological conditions and heart disease.